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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned a supermarket was offering a fresh beauty line that seemed similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold cap of both creams look strikingly alike. While Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name labels and offer affordable options to high-end items. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts argue many alternatives to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably better," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast about famous people.

Many of the items inspired by high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and state that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not just covering the label and marketing - often the higher price tag also stems from the components and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research employed to create the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman says it's important considering how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might include less effective components that don't have as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The key uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises using medical-grade brands.

The expert states these typically have been through comprehensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the label advertises about the efficacy of the item, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference testing done by different companies, she clarifies.

Check the Label of the Pack

Are there any components that could indicate a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up